Sitar Tumba Repair
A DIY adventure
First Things First:
First, I marked the positions of the bridges before removing them. The exact location of the bridge of a sitar is critical to sound quality and intonation of the sitar. It turns out I only needed to remove the main bridge.
Better safe than sorry.
Once marked, I removed the main bridge, took off the main strings, and brought the sitar to the workshop placing it face down on a large scrap of foam pad.
Planning The Repair:
After feeling and flexing the cracks and breaks I determined that it was necessary to remove a couple of pieces of the dented area to pull it out flush again. My goal was to avoid filling the dent with wood filler. With these pieces removed I put my finger in there and pulled the others flush with the surface again.
A good plan was coming together for a quick & easy, no frills repair.
The Right Stuff:
Many musical intrument makers prefer Titebond for permanent gluing jobs. This product is not recommended for gluing tops, for instance, because there are times in the life of an instrument when a top will need to be removed. For those gluing jobs it is better to choose a weaker glue that will loosen when heat is applied. I'll never want to open up these cracks again so this wonderfully hard-drying yellow glue is the right stuff for this job.